


Things I Know About Alex

by seaunicorn



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, F/F, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 22:46:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13110084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seaunicorn/pseuds/seaunicorn
Summary: Maggie is new to National City, and when she draws Alex Danvers for the workplace Secret Santa, she must put her detective skills to the test to figure out what to get someone she hardly knows.Written for Supergirl Secret Santa 2017.





	Things I Know About Alex

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PhoenixRisingOnTheMoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixRisingOnTheMoon/gifts).



The entire team of National City Police Department detectives gathered in the conference room for a very important meeting.  Maggie Sawyer shuffled into the room nervously and took a seat in the back; she had recently transferred from Gotham City and was still the newest member of the team. Maggie didn't exactly like getting to know people.

She watched as Alex and Kara, the Danvers sisters, chatted amiably and took seats at the very front.  Vasquez came next, mostly keeping to herself, but giving a friendly nod to Alex as she passed, plopping down in the row behind them.  Sargent M’gann M’orzz followed, taking a place at the front.  Winn and Lena entered next, babbling about some gadget or another.

Last came James, who entered the room from behind and took a seat right next to Maggie.

“You know you’re not going to make any friends from back here.”

Maggie rolled her eyes at her friend.  James was the one who had convinced Maggie to movie to National City and pushed through her transfer.  “I’m just getting my bearings,” she said.

“You’ve had a month to do that,” he muttered, and grabbed her by the elbow.  “Let’s move up.”

Before Maggie could protest, Captain J’onn J’onzz entered and the room fell silent.  James frowned and dropped Maggie’s arm, sitting back down so the Captain could speak.

“As you all know, we have important matters to discuss,” J’onn began.  He looked around at everyone in the room.  As he met Maggie’s eyes, she sat up a little straighter, intimidated by his demeanor.  “The office holiday party is coming up, as well as the Secret Santa gift exchange.”  J’onn retrieved a festive hat from behind his back as the room filled with cheers.  “No plus-ones are allowed at the party as it’s out of our budget to accommodate any additional guests.  Dress attire is festive casual.  Gifts must be under a fifty-dollar limit, and no gift cards.  Once you draw a name you may not choose another.”  He paused and seemed to look directly at Maggie.  “Any questions?”

“No, sir,” Kara piped up from the front.  J’onn glared at her, but Maggie thought it looked like he was suppressing a smile.

As the hat made its way around the room, Maggie began to panic.  She didn’t know any of these people well enough to buy them a gift!  Even James, as much as Maggie loved him, shopping for men was not an easy feat for her.  That was one of the (many) reasons she didn’t date them.

By the time the hat reached Maggie, there was only one slip of paper left.  _Please let it be me_ , she thought.  Maggie snatched the paper, unfolded it, and frowned when she read the name on it.  _Alex Danvers_ was scrawled on the paper in red ink.

 _Alex?_   Maggie thought for a moment, and she peered up to sneak a glance at Alex.  Her head was thrown back in laughter because of something Kara said.

What did she know about Alex?  She loves her sister.  That’s about all Maggie knew about her.

As the meeting dispersed, Maggie quickly intercepted James on the way out of the room and pulled him into a storage closet down the hall.

Maggie closed the door behind them with a soft click, and flicked on the overhead light.  James’ eyes were wide, and he opened his mouth to say something, but Maggie shushed him with a finger on his lips.  “I need your help.”

He shoved her away and brushed himself off.  “With what?”

“My Secret Santa,” Maggie groaned as if it were the most obvious thing in the world (which it was, as it was _literally_ what they were just talking about).

James rolled his eyes.  “You could just talk to them.  Like a normal person.”

“You know I’m not good at that!” Maggie frowned.  “You’ve known these people way longer than I have, please just give me some ideas.”  She pouted, and could see James’ resolve slowly crumbling behind his eyes.

James sighed.  “Who’d you get?”

Maggie grabbed the slip of paper from where she had placed it in her back pocket and showed it to him.

“Alex Danvers?” he laughed.  “Sorry, I can’t help you there.  Good luck.”

“What? Come on, Jimmy!”

“She keeps to herself mostly, okay?” James admits.  “Only really talks to Kara and J’onzz.  Sometimes Vasquez.  She’s a mystery.”

“Great,” Maggie groaned.  “What am I supposed to do now?”

“You’re a detective, Sawyer,” James said.  “Just do what you do best.  Or just admit defeat and get a gift card.”

“But J’onn said we couldn’t get gift cards.”

“There’s always one person who does,” James explained.  “Don’t let it be you.”  And with that, James stepped out of the closet, leaving Maggie to formulate a plan as the gears turned inside her head.

PART ONE: RESEARCH

Maybe Maggie wasn’t good at talking to people, but she sure as hell was good at her job.  After reading a good number of Alex’s old case files, which told her just about nothing except for that Alex was also good at her job, Maggie did what anyone in her situation would do: she googled Alex Danvers.

Maggie sat at her kitchen table with her laptop opened and beer next to her as she scrolled through pages trying to find any mention of the correct Alex Danvers.  There were quite a few Alex Danvers in the world.  She could’ve gone her entire life without knowing about the male Alex Danvers that apparently made a living as an actor with minor roles in porn films.

Most recent articles and mentions of _her_ Alex were about Alex’s NCPD career and her progress on cases.  The first thing Maggie found that wasn’t related to Alex’s career was her PhD thesis paper in biomedical engineering.  Maggie tried to read the first few paragraphs, but could only understand about half of it.  _So she’s a science nerd_ , Maggie thought.  She added that fact to the _Things I Know About Alex_ mental list.

There was an obituary for Jeremiah Danvers, ten years ago.  _Wife of Eliza and father of two beautiful daughters, Alexandra and Kara_.  Maggie frowned.  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

The paper with the obituary was from the Midvale Gazette.  _She’s from Midvale._

Maggie clicked away from the article and kept looking.

Alex Danvers, three-time statewide science fair competition first prize winner.  Alex Danvers, five-time Midvale Open teen category surfing champ.  Alex Danvers, valedictorian of her undergrad class at Stanford.  Everything that Maggie learned about Alex, she became more and more impressed.

And she still had no idea what to get her for Christmas.

Maggie usually had a policy against Facebook stalking people.  Granted, this policy was mostly for exes and girls she thought were cute—not that she _didn’t_ think Alex was cute she just—this was for purely scientific reasons.  That’s what Maggie told herself as she typed Alex’s name into the search bar.

She found the profile no problem.  The problem was that it was completely private.  Even though they had James as a mutual friend, that only gave Maggie the option to send Alex a friend request.  She couldn’t even click on her profile picture to view it closer.  Not that she _wanted_ to get a better look at Alex’s profile picture, but maybe there was something in the background that would give her an idea as to what Alex might want for—oh who was she kidding.  Alex was gorgeous and that was a fact.  But Maggie was _not_ going to let that fact distract her from getting a decent gift.

Maggie took another sip of her beer and closed her laptop with a sigh.  This research was proving to be fruitless.  Maybe it was time she moved onto the next step of her plan.

PART TWO: INTERROGATION

This was the part that Maggie was not looking forward to, but she knew she would have to at least attempt a conversation with Alex.  It would be suspicious if she only spoke to Alex, though, so Maggie realized she had to attempt painful conversation with _all_ her coworkers.  Maybe that was what James wanted all along.

In her conversations, Maggie learned that Vasquez was gay, Winn liked some of the same video games as she did, Lena knew all the best lesbian bars in town, M’gann used to be a bartender in college, and Kara liked boy bands.  The conversation with Kara actually proved to be more helpful than she thought it would be, as Kara offhandedly mentioned that she once took Alex to a Backstreet Boys concert to retaliate for Alex taking her to a My Chemical Romance concert.

So Alex was a fan of emo bands in middle school?  Maggie added that to the list.  Once a scene kid, always a scene kid.

It was nearing the end of the day.  Maggie had yet to speak to Alex, even though her desk was right by the coffee pot, and Maggie drank about six cups of coffee a day.  As Maggie stood from her seat to refill her mug one last time, she mentally prepared herself.  When she passed Alex’s desk, she’d make some dumb comment about…the weather, or how gross the coffee here was.

But when Maggie passed by Alex’s desk, it was empty.  Maggie frowned, but continued on and turned to the pot to refill her cup.  She poured in the coffee, threw in a packet of sugar, and took a sip.  The coffee was gross, but the caffeine was much needed.  Maggie turned around to head back to her desk, but instead ran smack into Alex, who was returning from the bathroom.

Maggie’s mug crashed to the floor, spilling coffee all over her feet, and cracking the cup in half.  “Fuck,” she hissed.  That was some _hot_ coffee.

“Oh shit,” Alex muttered, her eyes wide.  “Are you okay?”

“Peachy,” Maggie groaned as she reached for a paper towel to wipe the scorching liquid off her skin.  She picked one hell of a day to wear flats.

Alex crouched down next to her and took a few paper towels to wipe up the spill from the ground.  “I’m so sorry,” she said.

“It’s fine,” Maggie replied through gritted teeth.  “It’s shit coffee anyway.”

Alex laughed.  “Ain’t that the truth.”  She grabbed the broken pieces of a coffee mug from the floor.  “Sorry about your mug.”  She looked at the words on the cup and raised an eyebrow.  “’World’s Best Dad’?”

Maggie blushed and shook her head.  “Joke gift from an ex-girlfriend,” she explained hastily.  “I guess I’ve just been too cheap to buy a new mug.”

Alex tossed the shattered mug bits into the garbage, then held out a hand to help Maggie off the floor.  “Sorry, again,” Alex said.  “I really should watch where I’m going.”  She gave Maggie a small smile, and Maggie was honestly not sure if she had ever seen Alex smile at anyone but Kara before.

 _It’s fine_ , Maggie tried to say.  _It’s not your fault_ , maybe.  Or even, _How ‘bout that sunshine?  December in California always this warm?_   Anything would have been better than what she actually said.  Which was absolutely nothing.  She just sort of nodded and gaped at Alex like an idiot until Alex scrunched her nose in confusion and walked away.

Maggie internally kicked herself as she headed back to her desk.  _Smooth, Sawyer.  Real smooth_.  However, the interaction wasn’t completely worthless.  Maggie learned another new thing to add to the _Things I Know About Alex_ mental list.

Alex Danvers has a beautiful smile.

PART THREE: SURVEILLANCE

Okay, maybe it would be a _little_ creepy to take the surveillance part of this plan too far, but Maggie was desperate.  The party was in less than a week and she still had no ideas.  That’s probably why she found herself at the counter of a bar that she knew Alex liked to frequent.  She may have had to blackmail James for this information.

Every time a new person entered, Maggie tugged her hat a little more down over her head as she peered at the door.  When Alex finally arrived, Maggie pulled her scarf over her chin a little more.  She watched as Alex walked inside, looked around the bar, and found whoever she was looking for.  She also watched as Alex walked up to a table where a woman sat, a woman who kissed her on the cheek when she arrived.

Maggie gaped at the sight.  Was that—was she—was Alex on a date?  With a woman?  Maggie was so distracted by this revelation that she almost didn’t notice Alex heading to the bar.  She barely had enough to turn away and bury her face in a menu as Alex walked up and stood right next to her.

“Hey Brian,” Alex waved over the bartender.  _First name basis_ , Maggie thought.

“Another date tonight, Alex?” Brian asked as he leaned against the bar to talk to her.

“My sister set this one up,” Alex said.  “I can’t say no to her.”

Brian set a glass on the bar with a finger of amber liquid inside.  “Johnnie Walker Green for you,” he said.  “And for the lady?”

“Long Island.”

“Ooh, that’s not gonna last.”

Alex laughed, and when Brian finished with the second drink, she took them and left some cash on the counter.  “Thanks Brian!”

Maggie took a moment to process what just happened.  Alex was into girls.  Alex liked nice whiskey.  Alex was not straight.  Alex was friends with her local bartender.  Alex liked _girls_.  Alex let her sister set her up on blind dates.  With girls.

Sometimes, Maggie really had a one-track mind.

Realizing that she wouldn’t accomplish anything more with her brain stuck on the fact that Alex liked girls, and definitely not wanting to spy on Alex’s date with someone, Maggie finished her drink and left the bar in a rush.  She chanced one last glance back at Alex on her way out, and thought that Alex had seen her, but when she blinked, Alex was deep in conversation with her date.  Maybe Maggie was just paranoid.

She went home that night with _a lot_ to think about.

PART FOUR: EXECUTION

Maggie had her gift.  She wasn’t sure if Alex would like it, but she was out of time.  She wrapped it and headed to the party donning her best Christmas sweater.  It had Rudolph on it and his nose lit up red.  She really wished that she could wear it more than one month out of the year.  The party was at the office, with everyone who worked at their precinct, so even those on duty could enjoy some of the festivities.

Maggie walked inside and the party was already in full swing, which wasn’t saying much, as it was still an office holiday party.  It was, honestly, quite lame.  Festive music played around the office, the decorations were sparse, and with half of the party guests in uniform or work attire, it really took away from the ambiance.  The conference room had appetizers and desserts, and a bowl of punch.

Alex was the first person Maggie found from their department, wearing a sweater with a menorah on it.  She waved to Maggie.

“You’re Jewish?” Maggie asked, and immediately cringed at herself.  Way to start a conversation, Sawyer.

“Half-Jewish,” she explained.  “Not religious, but Kara bought us matching sweaters, and I can’t say no to her.”

Another thing to add to Maggie’s mental list of _Things I Know About Alex_.

As if on cue, Kara walked up with a plate of cookies wearing an identical sweater to Alex’s.  “Maggie!  Happy holidays!”

“Hey Kara,” Maggie smiled.  Kara was always sweet and overenthusiastic.  “Do you know when we’re doing this gift exchange?”

“Now, actually,” Kara said.  “We were waiting for you.  Follow me!”

Kara led the way out of the conference room, down the hall, and into J’onn’s office where the rest of the team waited with their gifts, and everyone was excited to finally get started.

J’onn started the exchange, revealing that he had Winn.  Maggie honestly didn’t pay attention to who had whom and who received what.  She was mostly nervous about giving her gift to Alex.  She barely heard when Kara squealed with delight and said, “Maggie, I’m your Secret Santa!”

Maggie blinked at the bag that Kara had extended to her.  “Oh, wow, thank you!”

She sifted through the paper and found inside a mug (probably to replace the one after the scene she caused in her attempt to talk to Alex) that read “World’s Best Detective”.  There were also a few bags of really nice looking organic coffee beans.

“Do you like it?” Kara asked, an excited grin on her face.

“I love it,” Maggie replied honestly.  “Thank you!”

Kara bounded over and gave her a quick hug.  Maggie was never one for physical affection, but Kara was just too darn friendly.  She found herself hugging the other girl.

Maggie’s heart raced.  It was her turn.  “I had… Alex,” she revealed, holding up the gift.

Alex’s face lit up, but Maggie noticed there was no show of surprise.  She made a mental note as she handed over the gift.  Alex opened it to find a bottle of Japanese whisky.  She looked impressed.

“Suntory?  Very nice,” she said.  “How’d you know I like Japanese whisky?”

Maggie shrugged.  “Lucky guess.”  It was half true.  She had only hoped that Alex would like Maggie’s own favorite Japanese whisky.

Alex thanked her, and ended the exchange with her gift to J’onn.  The group lingered in his office to chat, but Maggie noticed Alex slip out of there.  Maggie glanced at everyone, preoccupied, and followed Alex out of the office.

Maggie found Alex back in the conference room, wrapping a couple brownies in a napkin.  Maggie walked up to her and leaned on the table next to her, folding her arms across her chest.

“How’d you know it was me?”

Alex looked up at Maggie and tilted her head.  Her amused smirk gave nothing away, but she asked, “Want to get out of here?  This party’s lame.”

Maggie raised an eyebrow at her, but nodded her head.  “Sure,” she said.

Maggie followed Alex down the hallway and out of the precinct into the cool night air.  Alex pulled on a pair of gloves and wrapped a scarf around her neck.  Maggie rolled her eyes.  Sixty degrees was _not_ cold.  She grew up in snowy, fifteen-degree weather in winter.

“You really are a good detective, you know,” Alex started as they walked down the street.  Maggie wasn’t quite sure where she was going.  “You’re _not_ very good at being secretive, though,” she finished.  “Don’t consider a going into spy work, you’d be terrible at it.”

Maggie scoffed, caught off guard at Alex’s answer.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Alex chucked softly.  “It wasn’t that hard to figure out what you were doing.  All my old case files on your desk, your terrible attempt at conversation, and if you’re going to follow me to my favorite bar, at least wear a different coat than the one you wore to work that day.”

Maggie turned bright read.  “Oh.”  She didn’t think she was being _that_ obvious.

Alex laughed again at Maggie’s embarrassed reaction.  “It’s okay, it was kind of cute.”  Maggie blushed again.  “I do have one question though.”

Maggie cleared her throat.  “Shoot.”

“How’d you figure out I like Japanese whisky?” she asked.

“I didn’t,” Maggie explained honestly.  “I just went with my favorite and hoped you’d like it.”

Alex nudged her softly with an elbow.  “A woman after my own heart.”

They walked in silence for a moment, in step with one another.  Maggie took the time to look at their surroundings and realized she wasn’t quite sure where they were heading.  Before she could say anything, Alex slowed to a stop in front of an apartment building.

“This is me,” she said.  Maggie’s heart sunk in disappointment, though she tried not to show it.  “I picked up a double tomorrow so I have to be up early,” she explained.  “But, if you’re free after work, do you want to grab dinner?”

“Like—a date?”

Alex nodded.  “Yes, like a date.”

“Y—yeah,” Maggie stuttered.  “Of course.”  She blushed again.  It wasn’t often that a woman turned her into a giddy, fumbling, stuttering mess.  She supposed Alex Danvers was an exception.

“Great, then it’s a date.”  Alex pursed her lips and hesitated a moment, but then leaned in and pressed her soft lips to Maggie’s in a quick kiss that left Maggie breathless.  “See you tomorrow.”

It left her speechless too, it seemed, as Maggie could not seem to make any sort of reply come from her mouth.  She settled for a thumbs-up and a wave as Alex entered her building.  While Maggie walked a few blocks to her own apartment, she added one more thing to the mental list of _Things I Know About Alex_.

 

Kissing Alex Danvers is amazing.


End file.
